The Curtain Hasn't Fallen Yet
by EddieV
Summary: What happened to Connie and Dakota after their car died?
1. The End?

Dakota and Connie screamed. They held each other tightly, watching the growing crowd of shambling people surround the car. A man with a missing chin smacked the windshield repeatedly, his flapping tongue danced across the wind like the sections hair on his head that still clung to his rotting scalp.

A pair of women appeared at the passenger window, their clothes stained with blood, slapping the glass and pressing their graying faces against it. They hungrily chewed at the partition, their teeth scraping loudly. More people appeared, this time from both directions of the road. Connie spotted Linda Travers, a teacher at Dakota's school and vice president of the PTA come limping along. Her left leg was broken, the white bone poked a jagged head through her skin and tore at her stained skirt as she hurried toward the vehicle.

"Dear god, it can't end like this!" Connie cried, as her daughter buried her head in her shirt and screamed. Dakota's hat had fallen onto the center console, covering the cupholder and the soda she had been carrying when Connie had flung her into the car back at the house.

"Mommy, make the car go! Get us out of here!" She cried, as the zombies began hitting the car from every direction. The banging grew louder, as more and more reached the car and furiously tried to get in.

Connie wanted to yell, wanted to scream, wanted to somehow ready her little girl for death, but instead cried and held her tighter. It wasn't supposed to happen like this! Dakota was only seven, she had barely made it halfway through second grade, and her birthday was in three weeks! How could she die like this? Eaten…. by….. by zombies?

Connie's mind held no answers. She squeezed her daughter tighter and tighter, crying out as the rain of blows on the station wagon intensified. It was only a matter of time before one of them made it through the glass……

Dakota pulled away from Connie, her face dripping with tears. She had a curious expression in her eyes, and she pulled herself toward the windshield. She struggled to look over the dashboard.

Connie pulled her back, "What is it? What's wrong?" She had to yell over the sound of the zombies attacking the car.

Dakota jumped. She squirmed to look out the window, amidst the chaos of zombies before them. There was a man crawling up the hood, his entire left side was peeled away, like he had been burned in an explosion. She screamed and fell back into Connie's grasp.

The woman reeled away from the sight of the man. They were everywhere now, so many had encircled the car that she could only see their swarming bodies. Connie felt Dakota jump again, and sobbed.

"Mommy, do you hear that?" She cried out.

Connie looked at her daughter and shook her head. "Shh, baby, it's just them."

"No! Listen! There's something else!"

Those words pierced through Connie. Were there other creatures out there? She hadn't even begun to think if the disease could be spread to animals. Her mind produced zombie wolves, bears and snakes; all coming down from the woods to greet her as she sat defenseless in her empty car. She sobbed and grabbed Dakota.

"I hear it again!" Dakota cried out. She struggled away from Connie and climbed up to the dashboard again.

"Dakota, baby…..please…" Connie began, when suddenly the windshield cracked inward, and something grazed her head. She screamed, swinging her arms upward at the glass, expecting a riot of hands and teeth to assault her. Connie reached out for Dakota, but the little girl bolted upright and pointed out into the road.

"MOMMY, LOOK!"

There was no avalanche of undead pouring into the car. Instead , a single bullet hole was visible in the glass, and the burned man tipped and fell sideways off the hood. Blood and brain matter splattered the area around the hole. Outside the blossom of crimson, Connie spotted a man in a plaid shirt with black jeans aiming a small pistol toward them.

"What the-?" She began, realizing she was no longer crying.


	2. Get to the Truck!

"Hey! Is anybody in there?" The man yelled out.

Connie's heart leaped up into her chest. She reached over and began smacking the windshield.

"We're here! Help us!" She turned to her daughter, "Dakota, we have to get him to notice us!"

Dakota nodded, and began banging the glass and screaming out anything she could think of. The man began firing, picking off the two women at the passenger window. They fell away from the car with loud groans.

He slowly approached the station wagon, turning and firing at the zombies that began to notice the commotion he made. The one in the hat that had ripped open the driver's door was blown backward in a spray of crimson and his hat landed beside the man's feet. He stopped and dropped back a few steps, ejecting and tossing away the empty magazine from his gun.

Suddenly, from behind, another zombie appeared. It grabbed his shoulders, taking him by surprise. He dropped his gun as it swung back it's head, mouth open and teeth bearing.

"No!" Connie screamed. The zombie brought it's bloody face down toward his exposed skin.

KA-BLAM.

The creature's head burst open like a popped cherry and it was sent flying away from him. He stumbled forward, executing a quick roll and recovered his gun.

As Dakota wailed on the dashboard, Connie spotted a woman in nurse's scrubs by the semi that nearly killed her. Her vibrant blonde hair was tied back in a tight ponytail and in her hands lay a smoking shotgun. She cocked it and blew away another zombie by the car.

The man shot her a quick smile as he stood, shooting a man in bloody overalls away from Connie's door.

He then jogged to the car and shouted through the window. "You okay?"

Connie could tell by his accent that he was from around Willamette. He had soft green eyes, slightly spiked brown hair and a goatee that was recently trimmed.

"We're okay! Please, get us out of here!" She cried, releasing the door locks.

He shot a glance to the rear of the car, where more zombies were advancing from. He fired three quick shots before wrenching open the car door. He held a hand out to her, "Okay, make a run for the truck and don't look back." He peered past Connie at Dakota. "Shit, you gotta kid?"

Connie's eyes widened at him, as the nurse blew away a zombie clawing at the passenger window.

He smiled, "What're ya waiting for? Grab her and haul ass, sister!" The man stepped away and shot at the approaching horde.

Connie breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped her arms around Dakota. In one swift motion, she leapt from the car with her daughter in tow and dashed for the semi. The nurse fired another shell, motioning to her.

"Come around to my side!"

Connie swung Dakota to her other shoulder as she ran. Her breath came in gasps. She dodged around the semi's grill to the open door of the truck and lifted Dakota onto the large seat. She scooted over as Connie hefted herself into the cab and watched as the man dashed to the driver's side like an olympian. He dodged around the monsters, juking and jiving, while he swung his gun out in front. The sounds of it hitting their faces was like a pipe hitting raw meat, sending many off their feet.

A zombie suddenly veered into his path and he leapt, turning in the air and bringing out his right leg in a snapping kick. Connie winced as the creatures head violently wrenched to the left, bone bulging against it's throat from within before it collapsed like a rag doll.

The man was running as soon as he hit the concrete. He threw open the driver's door and leapt inside.

"Mind climbing in the back?" He asked. He quickly flicked a thumb behind him as the nurse retreated to the open passenger door. As she climbed in, Connie and Dakota slid over the seat and into the back.

Connie didn't take into account the size of the semi's front when she entered; it was nearly as big as her station wagon. The driver and passenger seats were shaped like armchairs, while a spacious back seat was almost shaped into the form of a sofa.

"Any injuries? Did one of them bite or scratch you? Either of you." The nurse had turned in her seat and questioned Connie. Dakota sensed her tone and sunk against her mother protectively.

"No. I made sure we didn't get touched. I've seen what can happen when you do."

The nurse exhaled, and smiled, "Good, then I don't have to explain that to you."

As the semi curved along the road, the man spoke. "Where're you headed?"

Connie wrung her hands and stared at him in the rearview. "Anyway out of town. We tried everything back in the suburbs but there were too many of them at the highways. I thought maybe the train station."

"The station?" The nurse asked, "That's pretty far away, practically other side of the whole town."

Connie swallowed, "I figured anywhere far away wouldn't be so…..so…..overrun."

The man sighed. "We've tried about six different routes. They're blocked off. Military blockades."

Connie leaned forward, gripping the armrests. "Military? Like the national guard? Are there any evacuation zones or safe houses?" The question poured out of her, her excitement barely containable. After a minute of silence, she glanced between the two, waiting for a response.

Her saviors gazed at each other quickly and then answered in unison.

"No."


End file.
